The first leg of the last 16 clash between Italian record holders Juventus Turin and Borussia Dortmund will take place tomorrow night in Italy's most beautiful and modern stadium. On the eve of the match, the Black and Yellows got their first look at the venue.

While the team were already doing their first warm-up exercises, Jürgen Klopp answered questions from perplexed Italian journalists in the Juventus Stadium press room. They wanted to know why such a poor first half of the season (with 15 points from 17 matches) had been followed by such a strong start to the second half, with, despite the low point of the loss against Augsburg, 10 points coming from five matches so far.

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“The most important thing that has changed is the team's fitness”, said the Borussia Dortmund coach with a smile. From January they'd been able to work more on tactical training (something that had proved impossible from August to December due to a combination of midweek matches and international breaks), since when their form had improved significantly. What's still missing: “We need to get a sense of security back. That's something that can only from playing matches”, was how Klopp described the final missing piece of the jigsaw and predicted of tomorrow night's match: “You won't be able to tell that we're in a relegation battle”.

While Juventus have a clear lead at the top of Serie A, BVB's position in the Bundesliga is still far from safe. “The day after tomorrow”, said Klopp, “the relegation battle continues for us. But now it's the last 16 of the Champions League. That's something we really wanted to be a part of. So now we really have to make the effort...”

It should be an interesting match between two sides whose respective styles of play could hardly be more different. “Juventus have an experienced team, extremely experienced in fact, and they're tough opponents”, said Klopp about the Italians. “They can play high-quality football at a very slow pace. Our style of play is completely different. It could get interesting. You have to take your chances, then you've got a real chance.”

Juventus' home form (they haven't lost a match in front of their own fans for two years!) is something Dortmund are well aware of. But Jürgen Klopp knows: “This is football. We've got a chance. That's clear.”

Tuesday's match promises to be very different to the team's previous games in the UEFA Champions League. “Our opponents gave us a lot of space”, said Borussia Dortmund's coach. “That won't be the case tomorrow night.”